Different views of War..

I read different blogs starting on May 5, 2004 up to Dec. 26, 2005 from Trueman’s journal. Then I read some other blogs from the American soldier’ page because I wanted to compare their different views of war and also if the war affected them in any different way.
As I read Trueman’s journal, http://rebelcoyote.livejournal.com/55594.html I was very impressed to find out that soldiers felt safer on foot then by cars because they would be easy target on cars. It should be very frighten to feel that every time you get into a car the vehicle could explode in any minute. However, what struck me the most was that Baghdad wasn’t a war zone, but soldiers were still dying in there. This means that they were never prepare to fight because they wouldn’t know when someone would attack. Truman describes that “there wasn't a single time they went out that he wasn't aware that every bush and pile of trash they drove or walked by could have a bomb in it; unfortunately the last time, one did.” It is very impressing that although Baghdad was one of the parts of the country that was dangerous, it wasn’t a war zone. In the other hand, he describes that they were friendly with the kids and “their day to day life wasn’t a battle.” I guess it doesn’t feel so awful to describe that way of living during a war.
It is very sad to read that he wasn’t able to overcome Robert, his friend’s death. “For two years, this haunted me. In my mind, I’d left Robert there in Baghdad that day.” It is an awful feeling to read that this is reflected in a large number of soldiers that went to war or still in Iraq. Robert was only 21 as well as Trueman which shows that most of the soldiers that were in war were very young and inexperienced.
As I read the American soldier journal, http://www.soldierlife.com/2006/02/11/there-are-no-men-in-black-here/ there was a difference in the way each of them talked about war. Trueman showed that he was frightened of war and he wanted to get out from it as soon as possible. In the other hand, the American soldier reflects patriotism as he says, “Every mission is different than the last and we ensure and do what we have to do to come back into the wire safely. Sometimes we all don’t make it back but we will still stand with the strength to go back outside the wire the very next day.” He describes that it is normal to lose someone at war but they are out there to fight for their country and that’s what they will do. He also reflects that they have to kill the enemy in order to survive. He feels that they have to do what they have to do and they shouldn’t feel so sad about it. This blog reflects Smith, “Not So quiet” in which she reflects at the end of her experience, a debate between B.F and Edwards because Edwards disagree with war and thought it was dirty and awful. In contrast, B.F believed that we should fight for our country, kill the enemies and do our bit.
- Daniela Piure